Gottfried von der Goltz

Emma Kirkby

English soprano (born )

Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, DBE (; born 26 February ) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over recordings.^[1]

Education and early career

Kirkby was educated at Hanford School,^[2]Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset, and Somerville College, Oxford University.

Her father was Geoffrey John Kirkby, a Royal Navy Officer.

Singer emma kirkby biography For the Record …. As a sign of the unparalleled regard for her talent, the soprano scored a classical music coup in when she was asked to make the first recording of a Handel work that had been lost for more than years. Instead, she studied classics at Oxford, devoting her time to the languages and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. Renaissance masters studied Latin and Greek too. There are classical echoes in the lyrics.

Kirkby did not originally intend to become a professional singer. In the late s, while she was studying classics at Oxford, she joined the Schola Cantorum of Oxford, a student choir which, at the time, was being conducted by Andrew Parrott. After graduation, Kirkby went to work as a school teacher, but became increasingly involved in singing with the growing number of music ensembles that were being founded during the Early music revival of the early s.

She married Parrott, and sang with his Taverner Choir which he founded in Her vocal career developed throughout the s, and she became noted as a soloist in performances and recordings with prominent early music performers, including Anthony Rooley and the Consort of Musicke and Christopher Hogwood's Academy of Ancient Music.^[3]

She taught for many years at Dartington International Summer School and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Recordings

Kirkby has made over recordings, including madrigals of the Italian and English Renaissance, cantatas and oratorios of the Baroque, works of Mozart, Haydn and Johann Christian Bach. Some of her most noted recordings have included a recording with the Gothic Voices of sequences of Hildegard of Bingen's A Feather on the Breath of God; the Taverner Consort's recordings of Monteverdi's Selva Morale e Spirituale and Bach's Mass in B minor;^[3] and her recording of Handel's Messiah conducted by Christopher Hogwood, which brought her international acclaim.

Stephen Cleobury She has sung on over recordings. Kirkby did not originally intend to become a professional singer. In the late s, while she was studying classics at Oxford, she joined the Schola Cantorum of Oxford , a student choir which, at the time, was being conducted by Andrew Parrott. After graduation, Kirkby went to work as a school teacher, but became increasingly involved in singing with the growing number of music ensembles that were being founded during the Early music revival of the early s. She married Parrott, and sang with his Taverner Choir which he founded in

The Messiah recording was later named one of the top 20 recordings of all time by BBC Music Magazine.^[4]

Other recordings include Handel Opera Arias and Overtures 2 for Hyperion, Bach wedding cantatas for Decca, Bach Cantatas 82a and for Carus; and four projects for BIS: with London Baroque, one of Handel motets and one of Christmas music by Scarlatti, Bach and others; with the Royal Academy Baroque Orchestra the first recording of the newly rediscovered Gloria by Handel; and with the Romantic Chamber Group of London, Chanson d'amour, an album of songs by the American composer Amy Beach.^{[citation needed]}

In the s, she recorded an anthology, Classical Kirkby, devised and performed with Anthony Rooley, on the BIS label, ; Cantatas by Cataldo Amodei, also for BIS, ; with Fretwork, consort songs by William Byrd, for Harmonia Mundi USA, ; Scarlatti Stabat Mater with Daniel Taylor, for ATMA, ; Honey from the Hive, songs of John Dowland, with Anthony Rooley, for BIS, and Musique and Sweet Poetrie, also for BIS, ; lute songs from Europe with Jakob Lindberg.^{[citation needed]}

Selected discography

Kirkby's recordings include:^[5]

Messiah, A Sacred Oratorio (Foundling Hospital Version ), with the Academy of Ancient Music (L'Oiseau-Lyre, )
A Feather on the Breath of God; with the Gothic Voices (Hyperion Records, )
Monteverdi – Vespro della Beata Vergine , with the Taverner Consort and Players (EMI Reflexe, )
Claudio Monteverdi – Selva Morale e Spirituale, with the Taverner Consort and Players (EMI Reflexe, )
Monteverdi & d'India — Olympia's Lament, with Anthony Rooley (Hyperion, )
Mozart: Exsultate, Jubilate, with the Academy of Ancient Music (L'Oiseau-Lyre, )
J S Bach – Mass in B minor, with the Taverner Consort and Players (EMI Reflexe, )
Time Stands Still, with Anthony Rooley (Hyperion, )
Dowland – The English Orpheus, with Anthony Rooley (Virgin Classics Veritas, )
Robert Jones – The Muses Gardin, with Anthony Rooley (Virgin Classics Veritas, )
Vivaldi — Opera Arias, Roy Goodman and The Brandenburg Consort (Hyperion, )
Handel— Opera Arias vol.

I and II (Hyperion Records, )
Bach: Wedding Cantatas, Christopher Hogwood, The Academy of Ancient Music, Decca
Bach: Cantatas BWV 82 and BWV , Gottfried von der Goltz, Freiburger Barockorchester (Carus, )
Handel – Sacred Cantatas (BIS Records, )
Classical Kirkby – 17th Century English Songs on classical themes (BIS Records, )
Chanson d´amour – Songs and instrumental works by Amy Beach (BIS Records, )
Cataldo Amodei – Cantatas (BIS Records, /)
Byrd – Consort Songs, with Fretwork (Harmonia Mundi, )
Alessandro Scarlatti – Stabat Mater, with the Theatre of Early Music (Atma Classique, )
Honey from the Hive – Songs by John Dowland (–) (BIS Records, )
Musique and Sweet Poetrie – Jewels from Europe around , with Jakob Lindberg (BIS Records, )
In Nativitate Domini – Festive Christmas Music with Susanne Rydén and Bell'Arte Salzburg (Berlin Classics, )
Handel in Italy – Solo Cantatas; with London Baroque (BIS Records, )
Montéclair – Cantates à Voix seule, with London Baroque (BIS Records, )
Haydn - Songs and Cantatas, with Marcia Hadjimarkos, fortepiano (Brilliant Classics, )

Honours

In , Kirkby was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Music) from the University of Bath.^[6] In she was voted 'Artist of the Year' by Classic FM Radio listeners and in November she received the Order of the British Empire.

BBC Music Magazine in April published a survey of critics to nominate "The 20 greatest sopranos", placing Kirkby at number ^[7]

She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. In she became President of Dartington Community Choir.

BWV 244 Gresham provides outstanding educational talks and videos for the public free of charge. There are over 2, videos available on the Gresham website. Your support will help us to encourage people's love of learning for many years to come. Originally, Emma Kirkby had no expectations of becoming a professional singer. As a classics student at Oxford and then a schoolteacher she sang for pleasure in choirs and small groups, always feeling most at home in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire.

On 21 January it was announced that Kirkby had been awarded the Queen's Medal for Music, an award funded by the Privy Purse and given to an individual who has had a major influence on the musical life of the nation.^[8]

In , Kirkby was awarded the REMA Early Music Award in recognition of her career as an artist and mentor to young Early Music performers.^[9] In , she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards ceremony.^[10]

Personal life

From to , Kirkby was married to conductor Andrew Parrott.

Later, lutenist Anthony Rooley, with whom she had a child, became Kirkby's long-term partner.^[3] On 30 April she married conductor Howard Williams.

Kirkby is a co-president of the opera company Hampstead Garden Opera.^[11]